What is Aikito?

As anyone who’s ever done it before knows too well, launching a new space is a messy, complicated, and expensive endeavor. 

In most cases, it’s a long slog — a Herculean task filled with landmines and gotchas that only the most experienced contractors know how to avoid.

While the entrepreneurs behind brick-and-mortar establishments are experts in the businesses they run — restaurants, coffee shops, and retail stores — they usually have little to no experience managing buildout projects and opening new commercial spaces. 

As a result, when founders, entrepreneurs, and operators decide to manage construction themselves, designing and building brick-and-mortar spaces becomes incredibly stressful and inefficient, resulting in wasted time, money, and carbon.

Luckily, there’s a better, simpler, more cost-effective way forward: Aikito.

At a high level, Aikito helps businesses delegate the costly, time-consuming, and cumbersome commercial renovation process. We do this by offering a hub that brings all of the people, processes, and resources needed to complete a commercial buildout together in one place. 

Keep reading to learn more about the challenges business owners face when opening a new space — and why more and more CEOs, founders, and real estate teams are choosing Aikito to simplify the commercial renovation process and create stunning spaces.

The challenges of launching a new space

When it comes time to open a new space, business owners are primarily focused on two things: how to generate revenue and how to engage and delight customers. 

Entrepreneurs who choose to manage the buildout process on their own often lose sight of these two critical priorities. Instead, they end up spending most of their time acting like a construction project manager. Lacking the skills and experience necessary to thrive in that role, they find out the hard way how complicated a successful buildout is, and their businesses suffer because of it.

With all this in mind, let’s examine three of the key challenges business owners run into when they decide to manage commercial renovations on their own.

1. Commercial renovationsThe commercial buildout process takes a lot of time

Successful stores, shops, and restaurants all have appealing designs.

Creating a warm, welcoming atmosphere starts with choosing a theme and concept that aligns with your brand and target audience. Since a mismatch can confuse or even repel potential customers, it’s imperative to get this part right. 

On top of this, you also need to select furniture, decor, and finishes that match your concept and can withstand wear and tear. With lighting, acoustics, colors, and compliance issues to consider, it’s no wonder why 77% of construction projects aren’t delivered on time, according to IDC.

2. Lacking expertise, commercial renovation projects often run over budget

When construction projects are behind schedule, costs increase. As such, it comes as no surprise that the same IDC report found that 75% of construction projects run over budget. 

Even when projects stay on schedule, they can still cost more than expected. High-end interior design doesn’t come cheap; balancing aesthetics and functionality with practicality while keeping costs in check is no easy feat.

And unless you’re willing to spend tons of time you don’t have researching your options, you always run the risk of hiring an amateur. Should that happen, you may end up running into pitfalls common in construction projects — like failing to maximize the use of available space, overlooking storage needs, or running afoul of building codes, health and safety regulations, and accessibility requirements — resulting in change orders that drive project costs even higher.

3. Unless everything is done right the first time, there’s a lot of waste

Businesses today are increasingly committed to sustainability. But many entrepreneurs aren’t sure where to start when building out commercial spaces. They don’t know how to design with sustainability in mind or where to source environmentally conscious materials, and they lack the technical expertise needed to implement sustainable solutions.

Far too often, business owners who oversee buildouts end up using excessive materials — many of which are single-use — due to poor planning, design errors, and a lack of concern for minimizing waste. Without an expert guiding the process, projects end up with inefficient layouts and frequent design changes that require more carbon. Making matters worse, inexperienced project managers neglect energy efficiency and often treat water, lighting, and HVAC systems as an afterthought, resulting in higher energy consumption and water waste.

When it boils down to it, the only way to ensure an efficient, sustainable buildout is by joining forces with an expert team that bakes sustainability into everything they do.

The Aikito advantage

Aikito allows business owners, founders, and entrepreneurs to easily source the people, processes, and things they need to get to opening day in one place. By partnering with Aikito, entrepreneurs, founders, and owners can save time, maximize their budget, and build sustainable new spaces that open on time — all while staying laser-focused on what’s most important: their customers and their businesses.

With Aikito, business owners can delegate commercial renovations in three easy steps:

1. First, you tell us about your project; we’ll assess the time and cost of it and figure out how to keep costs low and reduce your carbon footprint.

2. Next, we’ll match you with the right team of best-in-class architects and builders who live and breathe high-end design and sustainability.

3. Finally, we’ll handle your project from start to finish — including design, build, and delivery — all while ensuring you get better pricing and that your project stays on track.

Spectacular, sustainable spaces, on time and on budget, with no heavy lifting on your end. That’s the Aikito promise.

To learn more about the benefits of working with Aikito, check this out.